


Structural Weaknesses

by Ikira



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: April has to deal with it, Gen, Mikey gets hurt, Mikey has a NOT AT ALL secret crush on April, Raph has a not-so-secret crush on April, Surprise character shows up and makes a mess but then things get better, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2018-02-24 02:36:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2565182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikira/pseuds/Ikira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>April is very glad that she took the long way home that night. When she stumbles in on one of the boys alone, and in trouble, she finds herself the only thing standing between him and certain death. It's up to her to keep Mikey safe until his brothers can arrive, but April is clever, and quick, and maybe a little reckless. Most importantly she's very overprotective of her boys. No matter what, Mikey is in good hands with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Structural Weaknesses

**Author's Note:**

> I was talking with FantasiaWandering, and she got me thinking about Bara!Turts and then this happened. So, oops?

April was _so incredibly grateful_ that she’d decided to stop for a coffee after work that night. Because if she hadn’t decided to get coffee, she wouldn’t have been held up by the barista making her frappuccino wrong, and then she wouldn’t have missed the express bus home and then she wouldn’t have had to take a different route than her usual which meant she wouldn’t have gotten off the bus at this exact stop to transfer at the exact moment she saw a cop rushing into an alleyway with his gun drawn.

This was New York City, though. While not exactly a normal occurrence, she was familiar enough with the criminal underbelly of the city after years of attempting to become and investigative journalist and, more recently, due to her association with a set of rather large, green, mutated turtles of the ninja variety. A cop running into the alley wasn’t really worth a second glance to her.

But what _did_ catch her attention was when the cop suddenly screamed and started firing his gun, shouting something that sounded like oochoobeetoh. _Now_ April was interested.

Though she could hear a voice in the back of her head telling her this was really stupid – and when had the voice changed from her mother’s to _Leonardo’s_? – she ignored it. Besides, she reasoned. Maybe the cop needed help. Just in case, she brought out her phone and opened up the panic app that Donnie had installed on it the moment they realized she was going to keep getting into trouble no matter what they did, keeping a finger hovering over the button that would send out a SOS call and her location to every piece of tech Donnie owned. She was reckless, not _completely_ stupid.

Glancing around, noting that she was the only one around this late at night. Her new job at an antique store, the only job she’d been able to find fast enough to make rent, had horrible hours, and nowhere near the salary she was used to, but hey. It paid the bills. And there was usually enough left over that she could pick up something nice for the guys every once in a while. Her latest gift, a used Nintendo DS and a few pre-owned games, was tucked up under her arm. She had immediately bought it when she saw it in the store, already picturing Mikey’s excited face. Their last system had broken recently, through some sai-related accident, and Mikey had been looking a little morose lately. Once Donnie got a hold of it and converted the casing to be a bit more size-appropriate for their massive three fingered hands, she was sure Mikey’s eyes would be glued to the screen for a week. Splinter wouldn’t be too pleased with her, but she figured he’d forgive her once she surprised him with some cheese she’d picked up.

Still, those gifts could wait. Something interesting was going down and she needed to investigate. After all, what if it was something Foot Clan related? Now that they were roaming the streets on a regular basis, the boys had managed to keep the Foot Clan activity to a low, but they hadn’t completely eradicated it. She could learn something useful.

All of the sudden, just as she was starting to peek around the corner of the alley, she heard the cop swear loudly, and then something whizzed through the air, quieter than bullets. There was the sound of metal impacting metal, and then a loud shriek of metal twisting and warping. April looked into the alley just as the fire escape on the one building tore free from the bricks, a large hulking shape on the top platform toppling down with it. The cop jumped back as the whole thing came toppling to the ground with a tremendous crash that left April’s ears ringing. The cop, who’d ducked behind a dumpster to avoid getting hit by any debris, waited until the dust cleared a bit before he cautiously rose up and stalked towards where the figure had landed, his gun drawn the whole time. April could hear him muttering to himself in a language she didn’t quite recognize, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. As she peered a bit harder into the alley, squinting past the dirt and dust that was thick in the air from the impact, she thought she could just make out the silhouette of a shell on the hulking figure’s back. The police officer was coming closer, his hand going to the walky-talky on his belt, even as the barrel of his gun leveled itself on the back of the figure’s head. April’s blood went cold.

“No!” she shouted, dashing into the alley before she could think better of it. The packages in her arms tumbled to the ground, her half-finished frappuchino splashing all over the dirty ground as she ran towards the cop, her arms reaching out either to grab the gun away or throw herself on the figure, she wasn’t sure. But the cop instantly froze at the sight of her, his eyes widening in shock and fear. Instinctively he held his arm out, pushing her back and away from the groaning figure that was slowly pulling himself out of the wreckage of the fire escape, a flash of orange cloth and a string of shell beads telling her the figure was Mikey. At least if he was holding her back, he wasn’t calling for back-up, she thought, but his gun was still worryingly trained on Mikey’s head. So far the boys had established that they were bullet-proof when hit on the shells or chest, but none of them had been shot in the head yet and they weren’t eager to test if it extended that far. April was absolutely not in the mood to find out today either.

Thinking quickly, she started pulling on the cop’s arms and shoulders. If she could just get his attention on her for a moment, just long enough for Mikey to recover and escape, that’s all she needed. “Please, please officer!” she spoke rapidly, desperately, grabbing at him. “Please, stop!” But he only glanced back at her long enough to assure himself that she was unharmed and then his gaze went straight back to Mikey. The turtle was groaning as he pushed a sheet of metal off of his back and jerked something roughly away from his underarm, and April felt her panic skyrocket as she noticed blood running down his arm and side. He was more seriously injured than she’d thought. There would be no quick getaway this time, not if his brothers weren’t around to help. Judging by the fact none of them had intervened yet, she was guessing Mikey had been alone. She was the only help he had here.

Thinking as fast as she could, she realized that the cop was determined to protect her, constantly keeping himself between her and Mikey, no matter how she pulled at him. But he was also completely focused on Mikey, hardly paying attention to her. An idea sprang into her mind, and she only had a second to feel a bit guilty about what she was about to before she acted. Using the training she’d begun to pick up from hanging around with the guys, she grabbed the cop’s arm in a hold, twisting it up towards his back. To her shock, he actually started breaking the hold with the ninjutsu counter, but before he could complete it, she had let go. Mentally apologizing, she brought her knee up as hard as she could, and there was a muffle high pitched squeak as it connected. The cop went down hard, tears in his eyes. At the end of the alley, she heard Mikey wince in sympathy.

“Man, April. That was harsh,” he told her weakly, coughing almost immediately. April wasn’t sure if he was coughing because of the dust or if his lung had been punctured or something, but either way she wanted him home, and _fast_. She abandoned the cop, who was a little distracted trying to recover from her attack, and walked briskly towards Mikey, gingerly picking her way through the remains of the fire escape until she reached his side. Once there, she dropped down, eyes darting over his body to see how badly he had been hurt.

“Aww, don’t look at me like that, girl,” Mikey tried to reassure her, smiling weakly. “It’s not so bad.” Not so bad apparently translated to a gaping puncture wound in his side, the offending piece of metal slick with his blood still sitting where he’d dropped it, a multitude of scrapes all over his skin, and what looked like a split lip. With a furious motion she pulled the scarf she’d been wearing off of her neck and pressed it as firmly as she could against his side, heedless of the way his blood instantly soaked into the pastel floral printed fabric. He was quite frankly a mess, and she wasn’t sure how she was going to get him out of this. Suddenly remembering the panic app on her phone, she cursed as she realized she’d dropped everything, including her phone, at the mouth of the alley. It was all still there where she could see it, but the cop was between her and it, and she was the only thing between him and Mikey, and he was starting to get up again.

“Uh oh. He gonna be _mad_ after that, girl,” Mikey told her, shaking his head. He was cut off from further commentary by another round off coughing, blood splattering across his lips. April wasn’t sure if it was from the split lip, or something more sinister. Her mind was starting to run in an endless panicked loop of ‘what do I do?’ which was not really helping at this point. All she could seem to think of was pressing harder on the scarf, ignoring the way he winced.

“Miss!” The cop suddenly shouted. His eyes were still watering a bit, but he was standing mostly straight, and more importantly he had his gun out again. But he wasn’t pointing it at Mikey anymore, because she was in the way, which was always good. “Please,” he called out, his accent turning it into two syllables instead of one, “please step away from the creature! It’s not safe!”

Behind her, Mikey struggled to get up, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face, but she barely had to put any pressure on her hand on his chest to force him back down. He gave in with a weak groan, slowly falling back onto his shell and panting softly. There was a wheezy quality to each breath that made her insides cold.

The cop watched all of this with worried eyes, his hand twitching on his gun. “Please, miss,” he repeated, holding out his free hand in her direction, his gesture clear. His eyes kept flickering back to where Mikey had collapsed, but his focus was mostly on her now.

There was a moment where all three of them were frozen. Mikey was injured, too injured to move. April was trapped, refusing to leave his side until the police officer left. And he wouldn’t leave her alone with Mikey. She had no idea what to do.

But in that moment, she had a chance to study the officer, while he waited for her to take his hand. He looked middle aged, probably about mid-40s, and of either Chinese or Japanese descent, though she was embarrassed to say she couldn’t tell which. Although his grip on his gun was firm, his expression was open, and she noticed that the longer he watched Mikey, the less fear she could see in his eyes. Instead they were filling with curiosity, and dare she say it, wonder. When Mikey started coughing again, the man’s face twisted with unconscious concern, and his gun dipped even lower.

With no other options presenting themselves to her frantic mind, April decided to take a chance. She tried to keep her expression as calm as possible as she turned back to Mikey and lifted one of his massive calloused hands, taking a second to briefly stroke her fingers over his palm. He watched her warily, sensing that she was about to do something, but not sure what. She smiled as best she could, though she figured he could still see right through her. “Hey Mikey,” she whispered, hanging her head so that her hair covered her face from the cop so only Mikey could see her. “Can you do something for me? Do you think you can hold the pressure on this?” She pressed his hand against her scarf, squeezing it in place until she felt him take over. Only then did she dare let go. She tried her best to ignore how her hands were shaking, and how they were stained red.

Mikey saw it, though. His eyes, his beautiful blue eyes that never seemed to miss anything even though she could have sworn he was never paying attention, caught sight of her trembling hands. He looked up at her, his expression concerned, but when she only smiled brighter, he smiled back. “It’s all good, April. I got this. It’s undah pressure,” he joked, a couple of lines of the Bowie and Queen mashup baseline slipping out of his mouth and startling a short burst of laughter out of her. But then he fell silent, too weak to continue. His face was starting to look pale.

April knew she had to act fast. Slowly she stood, a hand raised up in defence towards the cop, while the other stayed pressed against Mikey’s shoulder both to help herself up on shaking legs, and to keep him down and behind her. She heard him huff softly in frustration, but his hand was still pressed against her scarf, and he could do nothing but watch as she stood over him protectively. The cop was also watching her warily.

“Please,” she spoke loudly, and as clearly as possible. She was proud that her voice didn’t crack at all, even as nervous as she was. She swallowed thickly, giving herself a moment to collect her thoughts. What could she say? What would _Leonardo_ say? Thinking of the leader of the turtles, and the way he always spoke with such conviction, she let his voice in her mind flow through her, and started to speak. “Please, sir. He means you no harm. This creature is a friend of mine, and would never hurt me or you, unless you intend to hurt us first. But he’s injured.” Here, her voice cracked a little, and she inwardly cursed herself a little. She had faced down the _Shredder_ without this much nervousness. It was just one _cop_. A cop with a gun. A cop with a gun, and her friend trapped behind her potentially bleeding out or suffocating on a punctured lung. Okay, not helping.

Closing her eyes and taking another breath to banish her panicked thoughts, she opened them and looked at the cop, her face determined. “He’s hurt, and he needs help. He doesn’t need to get shot. So can you please put the gun away? Please?”

The cop glanced between her and Mikey, at a loss, but she could tell he was much more curious now. He hesitated for a moment longer, biting his lip in indecision. But another groan from Mikey seemed to make up his mind because he slammed his gun back into its holster and started striding towards them, his brow furrowed deeply. When he got close enough, he paused, watching Mikey with open interest now.

“What is he?” the officer asked, tilting his hat back to get a better look. “Some kind of alien?”

April huffed and rolled her eyes. “ _No_ ,” she said. “Clearly he’s a turtle. Why does everyone think they’re aliens?”

The man glanced up at her with a raised eyebrow. “Ah yes,” he said, his voice thick with sarcasm. “He’s a turtle. What was I thinking.” It was enough to make April blush a bit.

“Well, I’m just saying,” she muttered, crossing her arms defensively. “It doesn’t always have to be aliens.”

The man laughed softly, but when Mikey shifted slightly to look back at him, he fell silent. After a moment’s pause, the cop bowed, to April’s surprise. “Hello Turtle-san,” he greeted. “I’m sorry I injured you.”

April was a bit thrown off by the man’s complete change of behaviour, but Mikey, bless his little heart, just rolled with it. He bowed as best he could while flat on his back with one hand pressed firmly against his side to keep from bleeding out, which resulted in this awkward-looking half-crunch and a nod of his head. “S’all good, bro. I know you’re just fighting the good fight. I just kinda lost that round. Call me Mikey. Hey, how’d you get the fire escape to fall down, by the way? That was really cool! Up until the part when it landed on me. That part kinda sucked.”

The cop ducked his head a bit, embarrassed. “I am not really supposed to be carrying these, but I have a personal collection of shuriken, and I’ve found that when thrown correctly, they are quite good at knocking old rickety bolts loose.” The man reached into one of the pouches on his belt and withdrew a few star shaped metal throwing stars. Both April and Mikey leaned closer in open wonder, eyes wide.

“Cool,” Mikey said. He looked up at April with a grin. “Do you think we can talk Master Splinter into getting us a few of those?”

April could only snort. “I get the feeling that allowing you guys to have any more sharp objects than you already have would end badly. Remember what happened to the Fenwick Express 3.0?”

“Awww, but Donnie fixed it eventually!”

April turned back to the cop. “Why do you even have these?” She couldn’t think of many reasons for someone to be carrying weapons that looked like they belonged to a ninja unless they were a member of the Foot Clan and serving under the Shredder. But this man hadn’t recognized what Mikey was at all, and he seemed completely uninterested in fighting now. But if he wasn’t Foot Clan, who was he?

The cop rubbed the back of his neck, ruffling the short dark hair that grew there. He laughed again, looking quite sheepish now. “Well, they’re sort of a family heirloom at this point. I keep up my training with them, and carry them more out of habit than anything now, but I haven’t had to use them in years. It was something about the way Mikey-san was moving, it brought my training to mind, and I was acting before I could think.”

“Your training? What kind of training was that?” April pressed, reporter instincts telling her there was more to this than just police training. Her instincts were rewarded when the man blanched, now looking more nervous than embarrassed.

“Well, I am not sure you would believe me,” he told her warily, tucking the shuriken back into his pouch and out of sight. Everything about his body language screamed ‘closed off’.

April gave him the most unimpressed expression she could manage. “I’m friends with _him_ ,” she pointed out, jerking her thumb at Mikey. Mikey grinned and waved. “Trust me. I’ll believe you.”

The cop blinked, and then his face relaxed. “Oh, yes. I suppose you have a point,” he agreed, rubbing the back of his neck again. Then he became serious, his warm eyes taking on an intensity that immediately made her stand up straighter despite herself. There was something about his eyes that reminded her a bit of Master Splinter. There was a warmth to them, but beneath it all there was a hidden layer of steel.

“I come from a long line of shinobi of the Hamato Clan,” he told her seriously, bowing again. “ My name is Hamato Yoshi, and I am trained as a ninja.”

There was a moment where April and Mikey just gaped at him. Then Mikey spoiled the moment. “Dude!” he shouted happily.

The man’s serious expression cracked at Mikey’s exclamation, a shy grin taking its place. “I take it you believe me?” he asked.

“Oh yes, we believe you,” April agreed. She studied the man, though she wasn’t quite sure how she was supposed to recognize him as a ninja or not. Her only references were the Foot Clan, who were more a gang or terrorist group than ninjas, or the turtles, who were _definitely_ not a usual case. To her, he looked like any other police officer in the city. Without the shuriken, she never would have even given him a second glance. But now that she was watching him, she could see the way he held himself, straighter and more confidently than most people. “Yup. Definitely believe you.”

“Oh man, bro! I’m a ninja too!” Mikey told Yoshi excitedly, struggling to his feet and reaching for his nunchucks with his free hand. “Here, I’ll show you my sweet mov – ah!” His nunchuck dropped to the ground as he folded over onto his knees, his eyes squeezing shut in pain. April’s scarf was soaked through at this point, and a few drops of blood escaped the fabric to patter on the concrete ground of the alleyway. Instantly April was at his side, her hands stroking his shell and cooing at him. To her surprise, Yoshi moved almost as fast, pressing himself against Mikey’s uninjured side and throwing himself under Mikey’s arm to provide him support as he gently laid him back down.

Once Mikey was safely back on the ground, he stepped away. “Wait here,” he instructed with a raised hand, “I shall be right back.” Then he turned and dashed back towards the mouth of the alley, hopping over April’s discarded pile of belongings. She watched him until he was out of sight around the corner, and then turned her attention back to Mikey. His eyes were fluttering weakly, and his breathing was shallow, though he still tried to smile up at her when he noticed she was watching.

“Hey, pretty girl,” he said weakly.

April smiled back, despite the tears that were starting to prick at the corner of her eyes. “Hey, buddy. How are you doing?” she asked gently, taking his hand in hers and cradling it. “Still hanging in there?”

Mikey tried to laugh, but it came out more like a weak puff of air than anything. “For you, angel? Anything.” He squeezed her hand, and it was a testament to how weak he must be feeling that it barely hurt. He needed help, April knew, he needed Donnie. And fast.

“Can you hang on just a bit longer?” she asked him, her eyes flickering towards her abandoned things. “If you can hold on, just a sec, just one second, I just have to grab something, and then I have a present for you, if you can just. Hang...” she trailed off as she leapt to her feet, dashing across the alley to her packages, and most importantly, her phone. She unlocked it quickly and, the panic app still open and waiting, she pressed her thumb down hard. At once the phone started beeping as it sent off its signal to Donnie, but April was already running back to Mikey, her packages in hand.

“Here!” she announced, slamming to her knees next to him and ignoring the way it sent a shock of pain up her legs and probably tore holes in her jeans. “Here, look at what I got you!” She pulled the Nintendo DS out of its bag, showing it off to him, while inwardly willing Donnie to hurry. Mikey’s eyes focused briefly on the box, before they unfocused again. He didn’t say a word.

“Oh God,” April whispered to herself. Then, louder, “Mikey? _Mikey?_ ” The turtle glanced at her when she spoke his name, but couldn’t seem to do much else. April felt her heart racing, and swore as she started to cry.

Thankfully, at that moment, Yoshi returned. He was carrying a large white box with him, which had a bright red cross right on the lid. April was so happy to see him and his First Aid Kit in that moment that she almost kissed him.

“Here,” the man said shortly, instantly assessing Mikey’s condition, and throwing open the latches on the kit. He pulled out several gauze pads and a roll of bandages. “It would have been better if he had kept the metal in place, but that cannot be helped now. Hold these, I need to disinfect the wound.”

April took the bandages gratefully, happy to have something to do. She watched as Yoshi gently pulled her ruined scarf away from Mikey’s side, eyeing the gash with a quiet hum. Then Yoshi pulled on a pair of blue gloves and tore open yet another package of gauze. He soaked it with alcohol, and with a soft apology to Mikey, he started rubbing it across the wound.

Mikey hissed and jerked the moment Yoshi made contact, trying to get away from the pain, but April practically threw herself across his chest to hold him in place, shushing him gently and trying to offer him soothing words. She wasn’t quite sure what she was saying, but that was okay, she was also pretty sure Mikey couldn’t hear her at this point. Still, it seemed he could feel her, because he calmed down enough that Yoshi could continue his work.

The pair of humans worked in silence, saying no more than what needed to be said. April held things and opened things and cut things as she was directed, occasionally needing to calm Mikey down again with a touch or a word. Yoshi for his part worked quickly and efficiently, completely focused on his task. If not for earlier, April could have believed that he treated giant mutated turtles and their wounds down the backs of alleys on a regular basis.

They had just finished bandaging Mikey up when there was a familiar sound of a sewer cover being shifted. April whipped her head around to look deeper into the alley, her eyes peering through the darkness to spot the hint of movement that showed where the boys would emerge. Frantically she glanced back towards Yoshi, who had also noticed the noise, but before she could warn him, a hulking mass of green muscle burst out of the sewer to land just before them. Raph was practically heaving with rage, and as he saw Mikey lying there with April beside him, both covered in blood, and an unknown human who was armed, April could see his temper flare up in his amber eyes. She could hear the sound of yet another turtle climbing out of the sewer behind him, most likely Leo. Knowing what this all looked like, and that she had seconds before Raph would act based on his assumptions, she threw herself in front of Yoshi, her arms spread wide.

“Raph, no!” she shouted. “He’s a friend! He’s trying to help!”

It was enough to make him pause, which was all she needed, because Leonardo was right behind him. The leader took a look around, spotted Mikey, and immediately turned to shout back over his shoulder.

“Please tell me you brought the mutagen, Donnie,” he called out.

There was a snort as the last brother climbed up out of the manhole to join them. “As if I’d forget it when April’s in trouble,” he scoffed. Then he spotted Mikey, and his eyes widened behind his thick glasses. Immediately he started fumbling with the bag at his side. “Holy cow, what’s Mikey doing here? April? What’s going on?”

Leo looked at the two humans, his gaze lingering suspiciously on Yoshi, before turning back to April. “That’s what I’d like to know,” he agreed, before his face softened into his usual polite expression. “Hello, there. April, are you alright?” he asked gently, looking her over with concern. Obviously he was trusting Donnie to take care of their brother at this point. Behind him, Donnie was doing just that, drawing a long syringe filled with bright emerald green liquid from a carrying case in his bag. Raphael was furthest away now, pacing along the back of the alley like a caged lion, but his bright eyes were watching Yoshi the whole time in case he tried anything, his thick fingers twirling his sai in impressive but threatening manoeuvres. April did her best to ignore him for the time being.

“I’m fine,” she reassured them quickly. “I’m not hurt, just Mikey is.” She could feel herself relaxing a bit as Donnie administered the injection of mutagen into Mikey’s blood. Although Mikey’s own natural stores would eventually kick in and take care of the healing process, the injection would activate them much faster, hopefully before he fully bled out. April saw Donnie administer a shot of adrenaline too, just in case, though a much lower dose hopefully than the one time she’d had to give it to them. It had been helpful in the long run, but hyper turtles was an experience she wasn’t eager to repeat.

“What happened?” Leonardo asked, his eyes once again flickering to Yoshi. Here, April had a bit of a dilemma. She couldn’t tell them the whole truth, or Raph would leap across the alley and stab Yoshi faster than they could blink, whether it was an accident or not. But Leo could usually tell when she was lying. So the trick was to straddle the line, _just_ enough.

“Well, I’m not sure what Mikey was doing,” she started to explain.

“Picking up pizza,” Raph interrupted her, his voice a low growl. “We knew you were coming over tonight, so Mikey went to grab it from that one pizzeria near here that you really liked. Numbnuts kept saying he’d get it heart shaped too.”

She coughed into her hand awkwardly. Mikey’s antics towards her were nothing new, of course, but Yoshi seemed a bit confused. “Anyways,” she continued. “I was heading home from work, and I took a different route than normal because I missed the bus, and I happened to be here when this fine officer,” she gestured to Yoshi, who tried his best to look as upstanding as he could, “apparently spotted Mikey and, uh...” she glanced at him for help.

“I thought I saw him stealing the pizza, so I chased him,” Yoshi admitted. “I also may have thought he was a monster, or some kind of alien, that was going to attack people.”

“Always the alien thing,” April muttered. Then, “But yeah, I caught up just as Mikey was trying to get away and I guess the fire escape wasn’t quite as well attached to the wall as he thought because it just kind of came loose?” She wished she hadn’t ended her story sounding like it was a question, but Leo was staring at her with such intensity she kind of squirmed a little.

“It just came loose?” Leonardo repeated, staring her down. When she nodded frantically, unwilling to speak in case she said something she’d regret, he glanced up at where the fire escape had once been attached and then back down at the twisted wreckage all around them. “Just like that?”

“Yup!” she said too brightly, still nodding. “Just like that!”

Leo looked less than convinced, but at that moment Mikey suddenly jerked upward, his eyes wide. “Whoa!” he gasped, and then he started talking a mile a minute. “Dude, whoa! Dudes, dudes, dudes, did you see this guy? He’s a ninja? Did you guys meet the ninja yet? Did he tell you he’s a ninja? Cuz he’s a ninja, like us. We should totally show him we’re ninja. Did you guys meet the ninja yet? Is the ninja still here?” Mikey sprung up into the air and started running around the alley, searching for the police officer that was standing right in the middle, blinking in confusion.

“Oops,” Donnie said quietly, still kneeling where Mikey had once been. “I may have miscalculated his dose a bit.”

April winced, already having flashbacks to the last time Mikey had been hyped up on adrenaline. “Oh boy,” she groaned.

Once they’d gotten Mikey to sit still, mostly through Raph practically sitting on him, and shut him up with a well applied piece of duct tape that Donnie always carried around for shell cracks and a myriad of other uses, Leonardo turned his attention back to Yoshi. The cop, for his part, seemed to realize that this was an important moment to make a good impression, so he stood up even straighter and tried to look Leo in the eye, even though Leo was pushing a foot taller than him.

“So, you’ve seen us,” Leo stated flatly.

“Yes,” Yoshi agree, nodding.

Leo hummed quietly under his breath, circling Yoshi slowly. April would have stepped in, but she was a bit busy being scanned by Donnie, who was absolutely convinced she was injured and just not telling them. Every time she tried to move away he would grab her arm gently and jerk her back, his goggles flashing and his handheld device streaming data to him faster than she could read. So Yoshi was left standing alone before Leonardo’s intense gaze. To his credit, the man didn’t even flinch.

“Well, we can’t silence you,” Leonardo finally admitted after a moment. April’s eyes bugged out, as she hadn’t even realized that was an option. “It would cause too much attention. Not to mention, I’m sure April would object.”

“You’re damn right I’d object.”

A muffled agreement from Mikey made Leo roll his eyes. “Mikey would _also_ object. But still, we can’t just allow you to tell people about us, for obvious reasons.”

Yoshi surprised them by laughing. “Yes, I can see why. But never fear. This young lady also knows a secret of mine, and I’m sure if I revealed your existence she would not hesitate to reveal my heritage to others. Your secret is safe with me, turtle-san.” He bowed respectfully, keeping his head low. Leonardo watched him with mild surprise for a moment, before a wry smile twisted the corner up of his mouth. Something about the man’s demeanour must have resonated with the turtle leader, because he seemed to relax all of the sudden.

“Please,” Leonardo said, “Call me Leonardo. These are my brothers, Raphael and Donatello,” he gestured to each of them as he named them, “and you already have met Michelangelo.”

“Ah, yes. Mikey-san,” Yoshi waved at the pinned turtle, who did his best to wave from under Raph’s bulk. Raph snorted and shifted, pressing Mikey further into the ground, though April had to hide a smile when she noticed he was being very careful not to jar Mikey’s injured side.

“I am Hamato Yoshi,” Yoshi introduced himself again happily. “It is a pleasure to meet you all.”

“You know,” Donnie spoke up, finally satisfied that April was unharmed. He tucked his electronics away into their usual places on his wrists and belts, ready to be drawn again at a moment’s notice if needed. His goggles were still down though, and he was now using them to scan Yoshi. “You’re handling this rather well,” Donnie pointed out.

“Yeah, the first time April met us, she fainted,” Raph added. His brothers all immediately turned and glared at him.

“Raph!” Leo shouted, indignant. Mikey struggled and flopped around, trying to kick Raph’s leg, while Donnie just threw a rock at him. Raph to his credit did look a little sorry. April just waved them off though, trying to ignore the blush she could feel spreading across her face. It _was_ true, even if she didn’t like to admit it.

Yoshi, for his part, was just amused. “It is quite alright. I have been living in this city for many years since I came here from Japan, and I have been a member of the police force for almost as long. I have seen many strange things in this city, though I will admit you are stranger than most. But more importantly, I have always liked turtles.” His smile turned distant as he seemed to recall a fond memory. “I remember that they were my favourite creatures to care for when I worked at a little pet shop when I first came to America. They were such hardy creatures, I had hoped that I could be as hardy as them in my new surroundings. But then the four of them were purchased, along with a pet rat, and we no longer stocked turtles.”

He glanced up when he noticed everyone had suddenly fallen silent, and that the air had suddenly become very awkward. “I’m sorry, have I said something to upset you?”

“No, no!” April quickly interjected, not wanting to get into the long story of the origin of the turtles and how it was connected to the events on Sacks Tower that had taken place a few months ago. Still, she couldn’t wait to see Master Splinter’s face when they told him the story later. “It’s just that, these guys need to get Mikey back home to check him over to make sure he’s okay.”

“Ah, yes!” Yoshi’s expression brightened. “It is getting quite late, and I’m sure you would like to return to your...home. I also should be returning to my patrol, I’m sure they’ve missed me.”

His words jolted a memory in April’s mind, and she glanced at the clock on her phone with a groan. “Speaking of missed, I’m pretty sure the last bus came by ages ago. I should probably head out and call a cab to take me home. Raincheck on the pizza night boys?”

Donnie, Mikey, and Raph groaned in disappointment, but Leonardo only nodded. “I think that would be best at this point. I’m pretty sure the pizza’s not really edible at this point anymore, even if we could find where Mikey dropped it.” He gestured towards the mess that was the alley around them to emphasise his point. “But if you’d like, we can take you back home.”

Knowing catching a ride with the boys either resulted in a wet trip through the sewers or a hair-raising ride across the rooftops, and that they’d probably end up fighting about who would take her and who would take Mikey home, she quickly shook her head. “That’s okay guys. There should be plenty of cabs just up the street at this time of night, there’s a couple of clubs in the area.”

“Actually,” Yoshi piped up, “If it is alright with you, I can give you a ride home. If you do not mind waiting for me to call in this...accident, that is,” he added ruefully, glancing at the broken fire escape. “I unfortunately cannot allow this to remain.”

She thought about it, glancing at Leonardo to see what he thought. Although he looked reluctant, he didn’t seem to have any immediate concerns, which was good enough for her. Besides, she’d always wanted to ride in the front of a police car.

Yoshi left to return the first aid kit to his car and to call in the broken fire escape to the appropriate channels. While he was occupied, April took her chance to say goodbye to the guys before they disappeared once again into the night. And she still had some gifts to hand out.

“Here, Mikey,” she started, picking up the discarded Nintendo DS and holding it out to him as Raph finally let him up. “I know you broke the other one, don’t blame Raph. Just try not to break this one too quick, okay?”

He looked down at the game system with wide eyes, and then back to her. With one quick motion he ripped the duct tape off of his mouth and tossed it aside before wrapping her in a bear hug, squeezing her so tight she couldn’t breathe for a second. “Oh man, April, you are the _best_!” He told her. Then, letting her go so quickly Donnie had to grab her elbow to keep her from taking a header into the ground, he spun around and pointed in Raph’s face. “See? She _knows_ me brah. She knows my needs. We got a _special connection_.” Then turning back to her, he held the game system close to his chest and looked her in the eyes with as much seriousness as he could muster. “I’ll treasure it. It’ll be like my prized possession. My one ring. My precioussss.” He started petting the box, until Raph hit him upside the head.

“Cut it out. Gollum’s way prettier than you.”

April laughed at their antics as Donnie stole the game system out of Mikey’s distracted hands, already babbling to himself about how he would upgrade it while Mikey desperately tried to grab it back and Leo tried to regain some semblance of order. It may have been a bit of a lost cause.

With the other three distracted, April trusted the rest of her gifts to Raph, handing him the games and the treats of cheese for Splinter. She fought back a smile as he tensed when she brushed her hands over his arms in order to pass him the gifts, suddenly unable to meet her eyes. Even though he always acted like the tough one, she knew he was actually quite sweet.

“Thank you for rushing to my rescue,” she told him quietly with a gentle smile. The smile got bigger as Raph actually started to turn faintly red, his eyes looking anywhere but at her.

“Yeah, well. You were in trouble,” Raph said gruffly. “We ain’t gonna just leave you out in th’ cold.”

“Still,” she said, tucking her hair up behind her ear. She leaned up as high as she could to press a kiss against his cheek, though he was so tall she was more kissing his chin than anything. Raph dropped the packages. “Thank you,” she repeated. Then, without looking back she turned and scooped up her remaining belongings and headed out to where Yoshi was waiting for her, leaning against his police cruiser.

The older man looked up and smiled when he saw her coming, chivalrously opening the door for her as she arrived. “Ready to go home?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” she agreed, sinking gratefully down into the leather upholstery of the car’s passenger seat. “Yeah, take me home.” She heard him shut the door beside her, and then start walking around to his own seat, but she didn’t see it happen. Her eyes had slipped closed as the events of the day caught up to her at last. It had been a long day, after all.

And she hadn’t even finished that damn frappuccino!

**Author's Note:**

> Thus, I have tried my best to incorporate Hamato Yoshi into the TMNT 2014 universe, because come on, he's gotta be there SOMEWHERE, right? I have more ideas about what he's been up to and how he might get involved in the boys' lives a bit more, but those will have to wait for another day. April is tired now :)


End file.
